Page 75 of Treasured By the Alien Rogue

“No.” He struggled in my grip.

I pressed all my weight against him, driving his body into the dirt. “Yield.”

When his body sagged, I knew it was over.

The villagers saw this as well and crowded around us, their silence showing their shock. Trivon had been traedor for as long as most of us could remember.

“Xax has won,” Digaray said. “Traedor Xax has won. This doesn’t discount what the gods have said about your possible mating.” Her gaze traveled to Amanda. “However, I heard your words, Amanda, and it would be wrong to force you to mate with anyone, even our new traedor, Xax. If you want, we’ll help you plant a spore and nurture it into a home you can live in by yourself. I’ll explain this to the gods. I’ll tell them . . .” She gulped but nodded slowly. “I’ll tell them that in this, they’re wrong.”

Someone gasped, but I didn’t look to see who it was.

“Or you can choose a mate from among our clan—or others we can travel to—and settle with that person in our clan or theirs,” Digaray said.

“I’ve already chosen.” Amanda’s voice rang out. “Xax is my mate. I won’t accept another.”

My heart surged, aching with love. I couldn’t draw in air.

Digaray nodded, her lips lifting in a tusky smile. “You’ve chosen well.”

I released Tribon and levered myself up and off him, backing away.

He groaned and rolled onto his back, rising slowly to his feet. He shot me a glare, but he didn’t attack. “I won’t remain here if I’m not traedor and not if my former second has a mate when I don’t,” he growled. His gaze scanned the group. “Who will leave with me?”

“You’re not banished,” Digaray was quick to point out. “We need your cunning, your strength, and your determination, Tribon. Please don’t leave.”

“I will not remain here,” he said again. “Who else feels this way?”

Two males joined him, shooting glares at me. Our clan was tiny already. I hated to think of anyone leaving, but I would never force them to stay. Let them travel to a place where they felt welcome or where they could create a new life for themselves.

“We leave now.” Tribon turned and pushed through our fellow villagers, plodding toward his shroom.

“I’ll give them spores,” Gerain said. She hurried toward the woods to collect them.

The rest of us gathered food and supplies, placing them in a pile in the center of the village.

I took Amanda’s hand, and we walked to my shroom and went inside.

In our living area, I gently took Maverick from her shoulder and placed him on his bed.

I returned to my mate who watched me quietly and cupped her face in my big hands. “I love you. I will cherish you always.”

“I love you too. And I will cherish you always.”

A searing blaze etched across the back of my right hand, and I lifted it, staring at it in wonder.

“What . . .” Amanda held out her own hand, and we admired the matching symbols bestowed upon our flesh by the very fates themselves.

“We’re mates,” I said. “The gods were wrong to say you must mate with Tribon, but I believe they listened to the words of our elder and now agree that the heart chooses who it mates with, no one else.”

Her laughter bubbled up, though it came out shrill. “They took long enough to make this clear.”

I kissed her, savoring how she clung to my shoulders and the way her legs wrapped around me.

A new life waited for us.

I’d lead our clan, and she’d open her tea shop.

I couldn’t wait to see what might happen next.

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